Sequestration
February 25, 2009
Steve Irwin raid: AFP acts as tool of the Japanese Government
February 25, 2009
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the Sea Shepherd vessel Steve Irwin, when it docked in Hobart on the 21st February.
The ship was met by a party of AFP officers who boarded the ship with a search warrant. Steve Irwin Captain Paul Watson said that among the material seized was hundreds of hours of video for the Animal Planet series Whale Wars, which he said captured some of the most dramatic whale-killing scenes ever seen.
The AFP warrant authorized the seizing of all edited and raw video footage, all edited and raw audio recordings, all still photographs, producer’s notes, interview transcripts, production meeting minutes, post production meeting minutes as well as the ship’s log books, global positioning system records, automatic radar plotting aid, purchase records, receipts, financial transaction records, voyage information and navigational plotted charts.
Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said the Australian Federal Police received a referral from the Australian Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry on February 17. Japanese authorities complained to the Australian Embassy in Tokyo as well as through the Japanese Embassy in Canberra. The official complaint stemmed from the director-general of the Japanese fishing agency. He declined to show the AFP search warrant on grounds that the investigation was continuing, but he confirmed allegations were made by the Japanese that the Steve Irwin crew may have endangered safe navigation of theNisshin Maru No 3 by deploying a propeller entanglement system between February 2 and 5. Mr Watson allegedly endangered safe navigation of the same Japanese vessel by forcing a deliberate collision.
Police confiscated the ship’s logbook and video footage The crew had cooperated fully and the material taken from the vessel was now being reviewed, Mr Keelty said.
The Captain of the Steve Irwin, Paul Watson stated “Japan does not wish to see the airing of the second season of Whale Wars and is putting as much diplomatic pressure on Australia as they possibly can to prevent further exposure of their illegal whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.”
“I wish that the Australian government would apply the same “diplomatic” pressure on Japan to end their illegal whaling operations. “The Rudd government was elected on a promise to take the Japanese whaling industry to court for their illegal whaling activities. Now they seem to be more interested in taking Sea Shepherd to court for our efforts to intervene against illegal whaling operations.”
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown has demanded the federal government explain why the AFP undertook the raid. “On the face of it, this is outrageous behaviour by the Australian government to secure favour from the Japanese authorities,” Senator Brown said. “And if it wasn’t, what on earth is the Australian Federal Police up to?. It is an extraordinary raid that defies the imagination.” Senator Brown said he could think of no other explanation for why the ship was raided other than to take footage from the Animal Planet team who were on the boat.
“If this action was taken at the behest of the Japanese authorities it will outrage many Australians. The Australian Federal Police can expect detailed questioning from the Greens at Senate Estimates this coming week.”
The federal attorney-general would need to approve any prosecution arising from a raid on the Steve Irwin in Hobart, a Senate committee has been told. “We haven’t reached the stage of seeking … consent,” Bill Campbell, a senior departmental official told a Senate committee hearing on Monday.
The incident followed violent clashes between the Steve Irwin and Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean since November. Any prosecution would open an international can of worms, the hearing was told. The whaling vessels were Japanese-flagged while the Steve Irwin was flagged in the Netherlands with an international crew. Mr Watson was a Canadian and the alleged offences occurred in international waters. Australia is a signatory to the international convention on safe navigation at sea. “Each state party to the convention is obliged to take jurisdiction over offences where a possible offender is present in its territory,” according to an Australian Government official.
Watson called off his pursuit of the whalers earlier this month, saying the escalating conflict was becoming too dangerous and could result in death. Japan kills whales using a loophole in a 1986 international moratorium on commercial whaling that allows “lethal research” on the mammals, and makes no secret of the fact that the animals’ meat is then served as food.
“I wish that the Australian government would apply the same “diplomatic” pressure on Japan to end their illegal whaling operations,” he said “The Rudd government was elected on a promise to take the Japanese whaling industry to court for their illegal whaling activities. Now they seem to be more interested in taking Sea Shepherd to court for our efforts to intervene against illegal whaling operations.”
He said the recent Animal Planet series Whale Wars was very embarrassing to the Japanese government and the Japanese whaling industry in 2008. Japan does not wish to see the airing of the second season of Whale Wars and is putting as much diplomatic pressure on Australia as they possibly can to prevent further exposure of their illegal whaling operations in the Southern Ocean. “It does indeed look like the Australia Government has given in to pressure from Japan with regards the embarrassment that the first series of Whale Wars caused.”
Captain Paul Watson said he would welcome a trial if it came to that. “We have to start somewhere so it may as well be by taking me to court. Let us get the evidence on the table and although a trial against Sea Shepherd and myself may not allow the introduction of evidence about Japan’s illegal whaling operations, it at least will give us the forum to present our evidence. Let’s see the Australian government bring the Japanese whale killers to Australia to bear witness against Sea Shepherd and Animal Planet and let’s see them appear as witnesses for the government of Australia that professes to be against whaling.”
“It’s a very one-sided affair,” continued Captain Watson. “The Japanese ships have not been boarded by the Australian Federal Police; they have not had their video and navigational data confiscated. They have not been questioned nor will they be, yet they violently attacked my ship and crew in the Southern Ocean. Does the law only go to bat for those who destroy nature’s creation? Are we about to see the ultimate kangaroo court where Sea Shepherd will be legally crucified because the Australian government has not lived up to their promise of taking the whale killers to court? The truth is that we would not have to be in the Southern Ocean defending the whales if the governments of the world would simply enforce the international conservation treaties they once so proudly signed into law. Without enforcement there is no law – just ecological anarchy.”
Captain Watson said he had no complaints about the Australian Federal Police – “They were very professional and polite and they were doing their job in carrying out the orders of the government.”
At least the people of Tasmania are behind Sea Shepherd even if the Australian Government are toeing the Japanese line. If it’s a choice between the support of the government and the support of the people, Watson is happy that Sea Shepherd is enjoying the support of the people.
“From the Australian government we are getting criticism and police raids,” said Captain Watson. “But from the Australian people we are getting a wonderful welcome.”
Some 2,000 people visited and toured the Sea Shepherd ship Steve Irwin on Saturday, February 21st at MacQuarie Dock in Hobart. “It’s good to be home and it’s gratifying to see and hear what people are saying to us and how they appreciate what we are doing,” said crew member Andrew Perry of Hobart.
Andrew was married by Captain Watson to Molly Kendall of Adelaide, South Australia during the Antarctic campaign. The Green Party of Australia sent a gift basket to the happy couple. Hobart bars were offering free drinks to Sea Shepherd crew and members of the public have delivered contributions of supplies and money to the Steve Irwin.
“There is no doubt that Australia is the greatest whale loving nation on Earth,” said Swedish 1st Officer Peter Hammarstedt. “This country rocks.”
The Steve Irwin will remain in Hobart for a month before moving to Melbourne. This week Captain Paul Watson will be speaking at the University of Tasmania, attending a photo exhibit about Tasmanian forests by Green Party leader Senator Bob Brown and will speak to forest activists on the front lines of the battle to save Tasmania’s old growth trees.
“These two issues, whales and trees are closely related more than people know,” said Captain Watson. “Twenty percent of Japan’s paper supply originates in Tasmania. It’s a trade-off. Australia wants to continue destroying old growth forests in Tasmania to sell to the Japanese therefore the government is willing to do the bidding of the Australian whaling industry. In return the Japanese want to kill endangered whales and are threatening trade retaliation against Australia. It seems to me that Japan needs Australia more than Australia needs Japan, but politicians tend to be afraid of anything that upsets the economic apple cart so the whales are being sacrificed so that the destruction of the forests can continue.”
When the Japanese see Australia’s Environment Minister Peter Garrett supporting the destruction of the forests, endorsing uranium mines, dredging Port Phillips bay and killing dolphins, slaughtering kangaroos and allowing shark finning, they can smile and say, ‘he’s one of us’.
“If Peter Garrett is willing to crucify me to appease the Japanese whaling industry then so be it,” said Captain Watson. “I’d rather be tossed into a cell for life than to betray my love for the diversity of life on this wonderful planet.”
Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson stated in November 2008 in reply to Garrett’s allegations of extremism:
“There is nothing more insincere than a politician just before an election. They will fire promises from the hip with a veneer of passion and resolve that is peeled quickly away after the votes are counted. Australian Environmental Minister Peter Garrett is a case in point. When Mr. Garrett was an activist musician with Midnight Oil he was a man to be proud of, a person to be deeply admired for his dedication to the cause of conservation. I once stood with him on the logging roads of the Clayquot Valley on Canada’s Vancouver Island to oppose clear-cutting. Midnight Oil performed a concert in 1993 in the middle of a logging road. Damn but we loved them and we loved Peter Garrett. He was the man!
In November 2007, I advised all of my Australian supporters and friends to vote for Labor because according to Mr. Garrett, a Rudd government would actually do something to protect whales from illegal Japanese whaling activities in the Southern Oceans Whale Sanctuary. Now so many them feel betrayed by Mr. Garrett after a year of anti-environmental stands ranging from being pro-dredging of Port Phillip Bay, to supporting logging and new pulp mills in Tasmania, to condemning kangaroos, to appeasing the Japanese whalers. How was I to know in November 2007 that Peter Garrett had been turned to the service of the darkside? He seemed like the knight-errant of modern Australian politics, a man of integrity and courage ready to fight for justice and the planet.
What we have now is the same old, same old. Just another reined in, subservient pawn in a political machine, who does what he is told and seeks to flatter and favour his political handlers instead of the people who elected him.”
The following statement was issued by Peter Garrett when he was Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Heritage on September 18 2007:
The Australian Government must stand up and stop Japanese whaling
A Rudd Labor Government would not stand in the way of Humane Society International’s (HSI) legal challenge in the Federal Court to request an injunction to stop the Japanese from killing whales within the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Labor has a clear policy position that we will enforce Australian law banning the slaughter of whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary. Therefore, Labor would enforce any injunction the courts decides to grant against Japanese whalers. I wish to send a powerful and clear message to the Australian public that Labor believes in enforcing Australian law. This is the right and obvious thing to do. The Howard Government has made a mockery of our laws by refusing to enforce the Whale Sanctuary protections, and it’s just not good enough, frankly. There is an ocean of clear water between the Howard Government and Labor on the issue of whaling. Labor has the guts to stand up to the Japanese whalers – the Howard Government will do no such thing. Mr Turnbull is all talk and no action. All pretty pictures of whales in his election material and no results. We expect the Government will not show support for this hearing. You wouldn’t see such timidity from a Labor Government.
If elected, Rudd Labor will not stand in the way of enforcing Australian law banning the slaughter of whales in the Australian Whale Sanctuary.
Captain Watson noted: “It’s now hard to believe that this man Peter Garrett made this statement. When Senator Ian Campbell was Environment Minister he did much more than Mr. Garrett and he actually gave assistance to us in our efforts to protect the whales. All that has changed as the Rudd government and Peter Garrett use passive-aggressive tactics to hurt the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society financially and to force us to not utilise Australia as a base. This week Australia and Japan announced that they would be seeking a “diplomatic solution.” Translated this means more talk and little or no action.
It is very interesting to hear that Australia is referring to Sea Shepherd actions as illegal when there is no specification as to just what illegal action Sea Shepherd is allegedly doing. The situation is clear. Japanese whalers are targeting endangered whales in an established whale sanctuary in violation of a global commercial whaling moratorium and in contempt of an Australian Federal Court ruling prohibiting Japanese whaling in the Australian Antarctic Economic Exclusion zone. The Rudd Garrett government not only has failed to stand up for the whales, they have now decided to weaken and harass the only group in the world that is actually saving the lives of whales in the Southern Ocean.
A Japanese foreign ministry official confirmed that both countries were employing diplomacy in the row. He also affirmed that Foreign Minister Smith had sought to distance the Australian government from militant environmentalists who have vowed to stop the Japanese hunt by force. Smith “stressed that the Australian government is making a clear distinction from the illegal action taken by anti-whaling groups,” the official said.
Captain Watson continued “Recently a spokesman for Mr. Garrett told the media that Sea Shepherd was a group of extremists. But the question must be asked. What is extreme about upholding international conservation law against illegal whaling activities? What is extreme about doing so without causing physical injuries to the whalers? What is extreme about doing the job that the government of Australia should be doing but clearly does not wish to do? It is frustrating beyond measure to struggle to raise the funds to voyage to the Southern Ocean while Greenpeace collects tens of millions of dollars to supposedly do the same thing and then announces two weeks before the Japanese fleet is scheduled to depart that they will not be doing what they were collecting the money to do. It is frustrating to have supported a politician based on promises he has refused to deliver and to suffer the insult upon injury of having this same politician repay our support of him with hostility and harassment. At least Mr Garrett has had a lesson in real politic this last year. He has discovered that talk really is cheap and that his real masters are in Tokyo. He has discovered that the midnight oil he is now burning is whale oil and the lives of the whales are secondary to the business of business.
Conroy’s Curtain or The Great Aussie Firewall
January 24, 2009
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”
“Who watches the watchmen?”
- Juvenal, Satires, VI, 347
The Rudd Government’s plans to begin compulsory content control for Australian Internet Service Providers (ISPs) this year (with the stated aim of preventing the spread of child pornography) have been met with shock and disbelief by technical experts, FOI lawyers, and civil libertarians alike.
On 10 November last year Senator Conroy released an Expression of Interest seeking participation of ISPs and mobile telephone providers in a live pilot of the forethcoming mandatory system to be run early this year.
According to the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) last report, about half the sites on the blacklist fell under the heading “RC – Child – Depiction.” The rest were X-rated and other legal material, as well as nudity, violence, crime and sexual fantasy.
Until now ISPs have been able to ignore the (ACMA) blacklist of web pages.
The reaction from ISP’s and IT professionals has been negative. Critics of the scheme say the filters will slow internet delivery speeds, block access to legitimate sites and be pointless because the same material will be able to be found somewhere else.
Telstra has refused to take place in the pilot. “Telstra is not in a position to participate in the Government’s Internet filtering trial, primarily due to customer management issues,” a Telstra spokesperson said.
iiNet manager Michael Malone stated he has enrolled to prove “how stupid it is.”
iiNet’s website states “The government has said ‘The pilot will specifically test filtering against the ACMA black list of prohibited internet content, which is mostly child pornography, as well as filtering of other unwanted content’. iiNet believes ‘unwanted content’ can be interpreted to mean anything the government of the day wants. This is absolutely unacceptable. We have no objection to appropriate legal process, but will not accept that an anonymous government official will make a call on the basis of his or her own judgment.”
Colin Seeger of Electronic Frontiers Australia, an online freedoms and rights advocacy group, said “Senator Conroy has consistently referred to stamping out child pornography when defending this scheme to the public and to the Parliament. The plan is being represented as a ‘cyber-safety’ measure for young people, protecting them from pornography, violence and terrorism. Unfortunately We don’t know the full extent of it because the contents of the ACMA blacklist are not available due to special changes of the FOI act. It seems safe to assume that the Government could expand its blacklist and use the filters to block material they object to, such as negative political speech.”
China – 08080808 – is it the new world? Critics say NO!
August 9, 2008
Olympics make a potent brew of sport, money, entertainment, politics, strategic alliances and geopolitics. When a country hosts the Olympic games they are under the intense scrutiny of the media. Recent Olympics have been held in Athens, Sydney, Atalanta, Barcelona and Seoul – all these cities are in countries where the dominant political system is some sort of democracy.
The last time the Olympic games were held in a totalitarian state was in 1980 in Moscow, where several countries boycotted the event because of the invasion of Afghanistan by Soviet troops in December 1979. And the time before that was in Berlin in 1936, which became a propaganda coup for the Nazis.
Politics interfered with the games in Munich in 1972 when eight members of the Palestinian Black September movement stormed the Israeli compound at the Olympic Village demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners. 18 people were shot dead. The games were interrupted for 34 hours, and talk of calling them off, but continued after the IOC president declared “the games must go on”.
In 1968 more than 25 people were killed in a vicious gun battle in Mexico City just days before the Olympic Games were due to begin.
And now it is China’s turn. China is now a major member of the world economy and a full member of the World Trade Organization. it is the last big country to have a government without any form of democratic representation (if we count Russia as a democracy). The Chinese leadership has been trying to re-brand itself accountable and tolerant, but this is turning out to be mostly spin.
As China’s wealth increases, so does it’s rapidly growing middle-class of consumers, the exclusive wealthy cliques of executives and entrepreneurs, and the hierarchies of well paid bureaucrats and party cadres, with all the potential for graft and corruption inherent in that mix. For the greater number of Chinese citizens poverty and red tape are still very much in evidence, with despotic local administrators and new, wealthy landlord classes the big winners from the socially skewed increasing wealth.
China’s two thousand year period of isolationism has shaped its dominant ethos. China’s Confucian values instill in young scholars a respect for authority (supposedly benevolent) and hard work. These rules also apply to households, and in many cases give rise to a principled, hardworking and honest people who care about education and see it as an avenue to higher status and wealth. And for those who don’t cooperate there are the ever-present Red Guards to guide them to correctness.
All this would be for the good if it were not for continuing abuses of state power, for example the eviction of thousands of poor city dwellers from Beijing for the Olympic infrastructure, or the ruthless enforcement of assimilation of minority cultures on the fringe of the Chinese state. And, apart from the obvious potential for corruption in a totalitarian state with a new dynamic engine of raw capitalism, there is the rural hinterland, usually strangled by the grasping octopus of local bureaucracy.
So let the games commence. We are certainly living in very interesting times, to paraphrase the old Chinese curse. I hope the Olympics helps to bring China out of it’s shell, and above all helps the poor and disadvantaged there, but I am not holding my breath.
The Wrap on Wrudd
December 1, 2007
The post-election euphoria still lingers. The old man was having a laugh (or rather a spitoolly cackle), and he suggested (predictably) the old Chinese curse: ‘May you live in interesting times’
Well, the Australian Parliament was shaken up in a box and thrown all over the floor. The ABC election night coverage was almost the best TV all year, and the final Chasers on Wednesday were viciously magnificent. Howard has retreated in ignominy, and Mr Rudd has scored one of the the biggest mandates for change ever seen in Australian politics.
The new Prime Minister aspires to a presidential style, demonstrated by the marginalizing of factions in the choosing of Cabinet, the appointment of Ms Wong in a full ministerial role for climate change and water. He brings an almost Lutheran discipline to parliament. The appointment of Peter Garrett as environment Minister (without climate change and water) but with arts and heritage means he will be occupied usefully on the side. The extraordinary appointment of Julia Gillard to a new portfolio encompassing a ‘from childhood education to adult work place participation’ is a bold move. From pre-school to University, then on to become part of the engine of the economy, as either a worker or engineer or owner or designer, it really is a holistic portfolio.
The only problem flagged by some observers is that the Deputy PM has roles beside the ministerial – she has to be a celebrity (in a political sense), and sometimes she will have to take the ‘rudder’ of the ship of state from Mr Rudd. These are very public roles and very important, but they could distract from full attention to the portfolio.
The appointment of Dr Nelson as leader of the Liberals is pretty typical. I suppose the conservative elements, though in a state of disarray, were still able to influence the members. Julia Bishop will be a feisty sparring partner for Ms Gillard, quite able to turn the knife repeatably without qualms. Dr Nelson has had to admit to past mistakes of judgment and he still suffers from stilted and confusing body language. And then there’s Malcolm, shadow treasurer, power aspirant. Further back there’s Abbot – but he needs steam-cleaning before being rolled into service.
But one last lingering doubt in how wonderful it all is prompts a question for Kev07; How can you be a progressive, social justice advocate, and deal with sciences, economics and the intricacies of world trade, and finance, diplomacy, values of other cultures, and yet still go to the local church on Sunday?
This suggests a lack of real faith in observable scientific deduction, or perhaps a bit of that old psalm “divine feeling of faith in the unprovable”. Further your religion of choice is mixed up with a whole lot of pre-Darwinian mumbo jumbo about the universe, antique, brutal stone age morals, cobbled together with a few middle-eastern fairy stories for children of truly limited significance. If you want to be seen out and about among your citizens of a Sunday, well why not Bingo, or the RSL? Or the footy? Cappucino clubbing? Opening a supermarket?
To get closer to the true divine, how about a few aussie gold-tops for that special weekend at Byron? Perhaps camping by the beach with the sheila and the kids , reading a copy of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” or “Plutarchs Lives” ? The possibilities are endless, but there’s a couple of suggestions for you.
The fact is that organised religion has a squirrel grip on the balls of Australia, and you are not about to fit the the Athletic Protector any time soon.
And Howard’s final words as he faded away on the night? ‘Janette has been the Cement in my life’….
Amen to that.
Bloody Typical (comment by Eccles)
November 3, 2007
Day 19 report
Yesterday was the 19th full day in the election campaign. There are twenty one days to until the election tally on the eveneing of 24 November 2007.
Labor made statements on the Northern Rivers growth corridor, health and education support for Melbourne’s western suburbs, Indigenous customary law and water desalination.
There were no new policy statements on the Coalition website.
The Worm Turned…
October 22, 2007
Channel Nine’s worm – the real-time reaction gauge – rated Kevin Rudd the winner, with 65 per cent opting for the Opposition Leader, over just 29 per cent for John Howard.
Despite attempts by Mr Howard to ban the audience reaction gauging worm, it was broadcast throughout the entire debate by Channel Nine.
The worm liked his attacks on Labor’s union links but reacted badly to most of his negative remarks and hit the deck when he defended George Bush.
By contrast it frequently soared during Mr Rudd’s appearances especially when he talked of his plans for future.
But Health Minister Tony Abbott has criticised the use of the worm in the election debate, saying it gave Mr Rudd an unfair advantage: “The worm wasn’t responding to what either of them said, the worm was simply responding, I think, to preconceptions,” he said.
A leading body language expert says Kevin Rudd looked ‘Prime Ministerial’ in the debate and trounced John Howard when it came to believability.
“Who cares what a body language expert says. Fair go!” Posted by: Neville Kneebone, Broken Hill
Mr Howard used his part of the 90 minutes in which the leaders faced off in Parliament’s Great Hall in Canberra to announce that a Coalition government would use the proceeds of a proposed carbon trading scheme to provide help for low income earner to pay for rising energy bills. Mr Howard selling himself as the experienced hand at the wheel, against the inexperienced Kevin Rudd: “Love me or loathe me the Australian people know where I stand,” he said.
But Kevin Rudd said he was offering new leadership, arguing it was Mr Howard who was the greatest risk: “The greatest risk for Australia’s future is for the Coalition to return and nothing changes.”
Opinion from leading political journalists also seems to have Mr Rudd as a slight winner, although many have opted for a draw.
The Australian’s Paul Kelly was on the panel, he’s told 2GB’s Alan Jones he’s awarded the debate to Mr Rudd in a close points decision.
“I was struck by how passionate and firm and strong Mr Howard was,” he said.
“But I did think that as time went on Mr Rudd did become more relaxed and more comfortable.”
Government Minister Andrew Robb claims the debate exposed Mr Rudd’s lack of substance
“Mr Rudd had a chance to make a real breathrough I thought,” he said.
“But what did we hear? Nothing but the endless slogans that we’ve heard for the past few weeks. There was no real substance in anything he said.”
However, Jenny Macklin says Mr Rudd showed he has a vision for the future: “I think Kevin Rudd really did demonstrate where Australia needs to go,” she said. “By contrast, Mr Howard really was, I think, just wanting to talk about the past.”
Meanwhile, it’s been revealed that last night’s election debate attracted a massive TV audience and, for the first time in years, comprehensively beat everything else on offer.
Channel Nine’s coverage – with the worm – held the largest audience, while the ABC’s broadcast was also strong. Kevin Rudd will take his election campaign to Sydney after commentators and the worm rated him the clear winner of last night’s election debate.
Within minutes of the debate opening Mr Howard was attacking Mr Rudd over Labor’s union links and economic credentials and Mr Rudd denounced Mr Howard’s record as treasurer under Malcolm Fraser. But it was when Mr Rudd quoted an international report lashing Mr Howard’s record on education funding that things got really heated. “Now that’s pathetic, you were wrong and you knew it and you shouldn’t have said it,” Howard said.
Moderator David Speers not only had to separate the two leaders over that point but he has frequently had to cut Mr Howard off for speaking too long and was even forced to remind the treasurer no heckling was allowed.
The two also clashed when Mr Rudd attacked Mr Howard for using the debate to hint at a possible removal of troops from Iraq. “Why should the Australian people believe you?” he asked. “You can sneer if you like, Mr Rudd” the PM retorted angrily.
And Here’s what the punters reckoned this morning:
Federal Election Odds 22 10 07 (3 bookies)
LABOR 1.55 1.58 1.6
COALITION 2.45 2.4 2.35
Seat of Bass 22 10 07
MICHAEL FERGUSON – LIB 2.75
JODIE CAMPBELL – ALP 1.4
